About the project
Mixed reality games are a novel way for visitors to interact with cultural heritage sites, but are typically single player and single device. In this project we will explore how multiplayer games can co-ordinate both story and play to create more social visiting experiences.
The LoGaCulture project is exploring how Mixed Reality (MR) games can enhance visitor's experiences of cultural heritage sites. However, visitors typically visit in social groups, and there is a lack of understanding of how multiple visitors can be engaged together in a collective digital visit experience. This PhD research will draw on the state of the art in mixed reality games, digital heritage, co-presence, and multiplayer interactive narratives in order to explore new theories of multiplayer engagement for cultural heritage sites.
You will be based within the Web and Internet Science research group within Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, which has excellent links with both Digital Humanities and the Winchester School of Art. Interdisciplinary approaches to the research work will be fully supported, and we encourage applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds, including both technical subjects and digital arts and humanities.
Through LoGaCulture we have existing collaborations with the National Trust (one of the largest cultural heritage organisations in the UK, with more than two million members), and are developing a wider network of cultural heritage organisations interested in the possibilities of MR. We will explore how the practical aspects of the PhD research could draw on these connections, and we expect the outcomes to have broad impact on how MR Games are perceived by cultural institutions, and integrated with existing visitor experiences.
Electronics and Computer Science offers foundational training in PhD research skills, and you will become part of an active community of researchers in the Web and Internet Science research group, and broader LoGaCulture family. LoGaCulture includes academic partners from across Europe, with the potential for cross-site visits, training, and collaboration as part of the PhD project to explore multiplayer MR games at alternative cultural sites.
